Cover-fastening for fruit-jars.



No. 656,777. Patented Aug. 28, I900. W. ROBSON.

COVER FASTENING FOB FRUIT JARS.

(Application filed July 81, 1899.)

(No Modem stars rats.

YVILLIAM ROBSON, OF TORONTO, CANADA, ASSIGNOR TO \VILLIAM W.

' PIERCE, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

COVER-FA$TENING FOR FRUIT-JARS.

$PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 656,777, dated August 28, 1900.

Application filed July 31, 1899. Serial No. 725,614. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM ROBSON, a citizen of the Dominion of Canada, residing at Toronto, in the county of York and Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented new and useful Improvements in Cover-Fastenings for Fruit-Jars and Similar Vessels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the fastenings or looking devices employed for securing the cover of a fruit-jar or similar vessel in place.

The object of my invention is the provision of a simple and inexpensive device of this kind which tightly closes and locks the cover and which permits the jar when inverted to stand firmly on its upper end.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a fruit-jar provided with my improvement. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectionalelevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a top plan View of the same. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional elevation showing a modified arrangement of the clips. Fig. 5 is a top plan View thereof.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

A is the body of the fruit-jar, provided at its upper end with a rabbet, forming an upwardl y-projecting rim a and an annular shoulder to.

B is the cover, having the depending flange b, which overlaps the rim a, and c is the customary rubber gasket or packing-ring interposed bctween the flange of the cover and the shoulder a of the jar for hermetically sealing the same.

Referring to Figs; 1 to 3, D D represent a pair of vertically-swinging locking clips or fastenings attached to the upper portion of the jar-body at opposite sides thereof and adapted to interlock with the cover 13. Each of these locking-clips is preferably bent from a single piece of wire and consists of two in- Verted-L-shaped members, which are substantially parallel with each other and are provided at their lower ends with inwardlybent portions cl, which form the pivots of the clip. These pivots are arranged at right angles to the vertical portions (1 of the clip and are j ournaled in openings or sockets e, formed in opposite sides of an upright earE, which projects from the upper portion of the jarbody. The upper horizontal portions d of the clip members are provided at their front ends with downwardly-bent portions f, which form locking lips or catches. These catches are adapted to engage against the inner edge of a raised annular bead or rim g, formed on the marginal portion of the cover, so as to lock the same down upon the mouth of the jar. The depending lips or catches f of the clip are connected at their lower ends by a bow or crossbar h, which prevents the clip members from spreading and also serves as a thumb-piece for disengaging the clip from the rim of the cover. This thumb-piece is bent upwardly a sufficient distance to permit the thumb to be placed under the same. The horizontal portions of the clip, which carry the catches f, extend over the raised rim of the cover and are arranged at such a distance from the pivots of the clips that the catches must be forcibly sprung over the rim of the cover in interlocking the clips therewith, the angular portions of the clip members possess ing the necessary elasticity to permit of this action. The pivots of the clips are confined in their sockets by the connecting-bow h of the clip members, which resists spreading of the members.

In locking the cover in place on the jar the clips D are swung upwardly and inwardly over the margin of the cover and forced toward the edge of the same until the catches f of the clips interlock with the inner edges of the raised rim 9 of the cover, as shown by full lines in Fig. 2, thereby forcing the de pending flange b of the cover down upon the packing-ring c and reliably sealing the jar. In this locked position of the clips the p0rtions thereof which extend over the cover present straight horizontal surfaces, which form a flat base upon which the jar can stand firmly when inverted. To unlock the cover, the catches of the clips are simply sprung upwar'dly out of engagement with the raised rim 9 of the cover and the clips are swung ontwardly and downwardly to the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, in which position they clear the cover and permit the same to be removed from the jar.

If preferred, the arrangement of the clips and the locking-bead cooperating therewith may be reversed, the clips D being pivoted to the cover and the locking-bead g, formed on the jar-body, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. In this case the cover is preferably provided on its upper side with raised integral bars or ribs 1', provided in their edges with sockets j, in which the pivots of the clips are arranged. Four clips are shown in themodification, but two may be employed, if desired, as in the first-described construction. In this modified construction the catches f of the clips are sprung over the bead g of the jar and disengaged therefrom in the same manner as in the construction first described.

I claim as my invention- The combination with a jar or similar vessel and its cover, one of said parts being provided with a locking bead or rim, and the other part with a lug having horizontal sockets, of a verticallyswinging locking-clip bent from a single piece of Wire and consisting of two members arranged side by side and provided at their inner disconnected ends with horizontal pivots which are journaled in the sockets of said lug, and connected at their opposite ends by a cross-bar, each of said members being provided in rear of said crossbar with an inward bend which is arranged substantially at right angles to the adjacent portion of the member and which is adapted to be sprung over said locking bead or rim, substantially as set forth.

\Vitness myhand this 8th day of July, 1899.

WILLIAM ROBSON. Witnesses:

WM. W. PIERCE, HENRY C. FOWLER. 

